


An Afternoon in the Shop

by pengiesama



Category: Okami, xxxHoLic
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-19
Updated: 2007-10-19
Packaged: 2017-11-13 08:20:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/501421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pengiesama/pseuds/pengiesama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuuko Ichihara, interdimensionally-certified car mechanic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Afternoon in the Shop

**Author's Note:**

> Backlogged fic from my personal journal. Forgive any inconsistencies with canon that have happened since.

Over their years--their many years--of travel together, Ushiwaka had never known Amaterasu to be the talkative type. Still, he had learned to pick up on her body language; the little things: the scuff in her step when she was down, the twitch of her tail when she was up to no good (these were the times when Waka could expect to have his flute buried under a tree somewhere).

Amaterasu's body language now, for instance, said this:

"You are an idiot," in the irritated set of her eyes. 

"We've been going around in circles for hours," in the exasperated sighs. 

"You have no idea where we are, do you?" in the accusatory tilt of her right ear. 

Her tail twitched. "I am going to bury your stupid hat in the mud."

Waka focused on the sky ahead and tried not to sulk. Of course he knew where he was going. The ship's navigation systems were over two hundred years old, granted; and he hadn't driven in about that much time, granted...but all they needed was a little warm-up time and they'd be as good as new. That's right; one needed a few laps across the sky to warm up. Of course. As true here as it was in sparring. Amaterasu couldn't possibly understand the finer workings of high technology; what right had she to call his hat stupid, it was necessary for that mystique, that certain _je ne sais quoi_ \--

His sulk was interrupted by the whisper of a brush on rice paper. He turned around just in time to see Amaterasu's body language (her tail covered in ink) say,

"I'm driving."

\--

Watanuki came into work that day to see a gigantic, eerily pulsating ark parked on Yuuko's front lawn. Its left blinker was still on.

"..." He shrugged and continued inside. That didn't even make the top ten list of the odd things he'd seen since the beginning of his enslavement. 

Watanuki opened the door to find a wolf waiting patiently in the foyer. Its ear craned toward him, but otherwise the wolf paid him no mind as it continued to consult the map that lay at its feet.

"...Yuuko?" called Watanuki. "You, um, have a customer..."

Larg bounded into the room in a professional-looking cap and nametag. "We know, Mr. Late-y-Pants--!" he chirped. "Sorry to keep you waiting, ma'am! Welcome to your friendly interdimensional AAA station, how may we help you?"

The wolf nudged the map toward Larg and whimpered. Larg nodded sympathetically.

"Figuring out the nav-systems on foreign-made cars is a pain!" he agreed. He rolled up the map and tucked it under one arm. "We'll get you fixed up in a jiffy, ma'am, and I'll plan your route for you! In the meantime, why doncha play with our intern?" 

Watanuki twitched. "I--"

Larg bounced over to poke him in the belly. "He's pudgy and needs the exercise--!"

Before Watanuki could work himself into a good froth, Larg had already skipped out of the room. Watanuki let out a sigh. A tennis ball rolled off the high shelf where it rested with the rest of Yuuko's equipment--it rolled neatly to his feet. 

The wolf's tail wagged hopefully.

\--

"These models are always a pain in the neck!" The banging of her wrench nearly drowned out Yuuko's voice. She lay on the ground under the ark, tinkering with the engine. "The year it came out, ya see, the bigwigs at the factory decided it'd save money to hire monkeys to program the navigation system. Worked until they decided to unionize. Next came Krazy Glue-ing the pieces together instead of welding; which worked until they ran out and resorted to Bubble-Yum and paperclips..."

Watanuki wasn't sure who Yuuko thought she was talking to; Shirahime--he'd begun to call the wolf that; those fancy red markings gave her a really regal air--seemed entirely more interested in the tennis ball he threw. He had seen a man inside the ark, securely tied to the passenger seat with vines, but he seemed entirely more interested in working up an impressive sulk. 

Yuuko rolled out from under the ark, wiping her face clean with her rag. "Phew! Good as new. In the future I'd recommend not parking the thing in a lake for two centuries; it really futzes with the engine doowhackies."

"Are you even a certified mechanic?" asked Watanuki. 

"I'm a certified love machine!" Larg helpfully replied, bouncing onto Watanuki's head. Larg proudly handed the map over to Shirahime. "All set, ma'am--! You and your pet human can set out whenever you're ready!" 

Shirahime dropped the tennis ball at Watanuki's feet and took the map in her mouth with a grateful whuff. Watanuki smiled and bent to rub behind her ears. 

"It was nice playing with you, Shirahime," he said. "Good luck piloting that thing."

Shirahime licked his fingers and trotted back to the ship. Watanuki raised his hand to wave good-bye, only to find that a strange wooden charm had been tied to his wrist. Puzzled, he turned it over in his hands as the wolf padded her way up the rainbow ramp and into the ship.

Yuuko peeked over his shoulder. "Heh, not bad. That thing might put your friend Doumeki out of a job for a while..."

Watanuki narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "What, is it going to start following me around and making me look like an idiot everywhere I go?"

"Watanuki accomplishes that all on his own--!" Larg replied in an exact and eerily chirpy imitation of Doumeki's voice. Watanuki would have raged had he not been so creeped out.

Yuuko sighed happily and skipped inside. "Now to enjoy my payment...I haven't had Lunar sake in ages..."

\--

"Now aren't you glad we asked for directions," said the smug uptilt of Amaterasu's muzzle. 

Dark clouds roiled over Waka's head. Amaterasu may have stripped him of his position of navigator, but he was still the one with opposable thumbs--the least she could do was let him drive in peace instead of gloating over his shoulder. And maybe untie him.

Her muzzle tilted even farther upward, and she huffed a proud breath through her nose. It was a display that clearly said, "I am a great and powerful goddess with excellent driving skills, and you have a stupid hat."

No matter how many years they traveled together, Ushiwaka would never concede her on the point of the hat.


End file.
